Beyond Memorization: Give 21st Century Students Time to Understand

We can all agree that it is important for students to graduate from high school. However, what happens when “graduating” from high school does not necessarily represent an understanding of the basic skills needed in college and the workplace? According to the Sun-Sentinel, more than half of the students entering public colleges and universities in Florida need remedial classes in math, reading, and writing prior to starting their college classes. The problem is NOT the amount of money we are putting into our public schools; rather, the structure and curriculum of public education needs reform. Memorizing information for the FCAT or College Placement Test is not going to equip students with the skills needed for the 21^st century.

Students need to learn to analyze, understand, and explain rather than memorize, recite, and regurgitate facts and information. A student cannot be expected to master division if he or she does not know what dividing numbers truly means. Subjects—particularly reading and math—need to be taught on a student’s individual timeframe. Learning should be measured against each student’s past markers of progress. We must enable students to learn at varying rates so they come to understand and analyze information in a way that is useful and accessible both to them personally and for the 21^st century.

We must change our expectations about time and make conceptual understanding (not wrote repetition) our first priority.

For more information, please see "College Students Lack Math, Writing Skills: 55% Are Taking Remedial Classes After Entering Schools in Florida" by Scott Travis. Sun-Sentinel, March 1^st, 2010.

Time for 'Change' in K-12 Education

This is an opportune time for President-Elect Obama. His commitment to 'Change' must be applied in K-12 education.

No longer can we afford to lose more than 30% of our high school students to the dropout pool. No longer can we tolerate the outdated agrarian industrial model. No longer can we tinker around the edges substituting book A for book B or modifying a time dimension within a few courses. No longer can we afford to leave the structure and organization of K-12 education the same.

This is the moment - this is the time for real change in the public schools of this country. We have the knowledge, the tools and the necessary technology to create a positive learning environment for the 21st century. We can focus on the student as the class and offer individualized instruction based on students' different learning styles. We can vary time so that those who need more time to master a concept have the opportunity to do so. The concept advocated in this blog (initial and subsequent posts) should be implemented now while the momentum for educational change is with us. The organization and structure of our current K-12 system must be changed to accommodate all learners.

The need is obvious. The opportunity is here. The lives of young men and women, and the future of the United States of America, rest in our hands.

Teacher Training Vital to Hybrid Education

I just read a terrific article on how hybrid education engages students and promotes learning autonomy, and why teacher training is critical to this methodology that combines classroom and online learning. I strongly recommend reading T.H.E. Journal May 2007 - Hybrid Learning: Challenges for Teachers by Ruth Reynard. In this article, Ms. Reynard describes how "[h]ybrid [course delivery] is presenting teachers with an opportunity to increase student participation and maximize the learning potential of each student" and explains why "teachers need the professional development support in redesigning instruction and modifying their teaching methods accordingly."

Longer Day is a Bandaid; Not a Solution

An article in the New York Times on Monday, March 26, 2007, refers to longer school days being used to solve our failing schools. This is a bandaid approach. While this additional time appears to be used in part to offer students individualised attention and opportunity for learning material, the majority of the day continues in the same class-oriented manner. The 'student might be the class' during the extra period, but not during the majority of the school day. We must vary time as part of learning to accommodate all students and we must change the structure and organisation of the classroom -- not just for an extra hour but for the entire school day.

NY Times - Failing Schools See a Solution In Longer Day